Juno Awards are a potential blaze of glory for Arcade Fire

Who will be the big winners at the Juno Awards from Winnipeg? Arcade Fire, Tegan and Sara, Drake and Hedley are among the nominees.

Win Butler's Arcade Fire is nominated for six Juno Awards.

Photograph by: Michelle Siu/The Canadian Press
, Postmedia News

Sandra Sperounes

Will rocker Serena Ryder "stompa" her competition at this year's Junos?

Not only is she nominated in five categories — including single of the year (for What I Wouldn't Do) and album of the year (for Harmony) — she's one of three hosts of Sunday's telecast from Winnipeg's MTS Centre. Rapper Classified and country star Johnny Reid are the others.

Then again, Canada's biggest night in music could end up as a blaze of glory for Arcade Fire. The Montreal indie-rockers are up for six awards — including four of the same categories as Ryder. Other strong contenders and multiple nominees include crooner Michael Buble (five), rapper-singer-actor Drake (four), Celine Dion (four), rockers Hedley (four) and Calgary's Quin twins Tegan and Sara (four), who reinvented themselves as pop stars in 2013.

Let's just say this is one of the toughest Junos to call.

Awkward Fire?

With six nods, Arcade Fire is this year's front-runner — but Win Butler and his bandmates won't be at the Junos. They'll be in Santiago as part of Lollapalooza: Chile.

Which could lead to some awkwardness, since Arcade Fire is nominated in five of the six categories being awarded during Sunday's broadcast: single of the year (for Reflektor), album of the year (for Reflektor), group of the year, songwriter of the year and fan choice of the year.

As for the Arcade-less category, breakthrough group of the year, Toronto indie-rockers July Talk could take it, thanks to their hit, Guns + Ammunition, featuring Leah Fay's coy pipes and Edmonton expat Peter Dreimanis's gruff rasps.

A Tribe Called Red, Born Ruffians, Courage My Love and Autumn Hill are also nominated.

Can't-Miss Performances

Hosts Serena Ryder and Classified will open the broadcast with a mash-up of her hit, What I Wouldn't Do, and his, Three Foot Tall. Tegan and Sara will sing Closer with a choir of fans from across North America, led by Toronto's singalong phenomenon, Choir! Choir! Choir!

An all-star band, featuring The Sheepdogs, rocker Matt Mays and rising country star Tim Hicks, will pay tribute to Winnipeg's Bachman-Turner Overdrive, this year's Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductees.

Oh, and Blurred Lines hitmaker Robin Thicke is also scheduled to perform.

Let's hope the American-born son of Canadian actor Alan Thicke won't make a fool of himself as he did when he appeared on the MTV Music Video Awards with twerker Miley Cyrus.

Stream Team

The majority of awards are traditionally handed out during a private gala on Saturday night. Not anymore.

This year, for the first time, the proceedings will be streamed via junoawards.ca, starting at 7 p.m. (ET).

The winners of 35 categories will be revealed — such as artist of the year and adult contemporary album of the year. The latter features three Davids versus two Goliaths. Edmonton's Chloe Albert, Kitchener's Alysha Brilla, and Montreal's Coral Egan are the underdogs; Celine Dion and Johnny Reid are the musical giants.

CBC's Jian Ghomeshi hosts the three-hour gala, which includes performances by July Talk, A Tribe Called Red and the Devin Cuddy Band.

By The Numbers:

80 — First-time nominees vying for awards this weekend

2005 — The last year the Junos were in Winnipeg

20 — The number of Junos won by Celine Dion between 1991 and 1999

0 — The number of Junos won by Celine Dion between 2000 and 2013

1971 — When the first Junos were awarded

2,700+ — The number of Junos handed out since 1971, according to Martin Melhuish's new book, Oh What A Feeling: The Next Generation.

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